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Change in Georgia tag fee law could boost conservation

State wildlife officials and conservationists hope a change in state law can reverse a disastrous slide in the sales of special wildlife auto tags, the chief source of revenue for the state’s non-game wildlife programs.

Since 1997, when the special plates were authorized, the extra money Georgians voluntarily pay for the tags has accounted for most of the revenue for the state Department of Natural Resources’ Nongame Conservation Section, which helps protect plant habitat as well as animals. The Nongame Conservation Section gets no tax money, and also gets some of its funding from income tax checkoffs, gifts, an annual fundraising event and grants.

Back then, most of the extra money people paid for the special tags went to the non-game wildlife fund. The special tags are easily recognizable for the animals they portray, such as the bobwhite quail and the bald eagle.

The money is used for such programs as preserving wild areas where rare and threatened native plants grow, educating school children about Georgia’s natural environment, or protecting endangered sea turtles.

In 2010, however, the state legislature hiked the fees and began diverting most of the money to the state’s general fund, where it supplemented tax revenue.

Sales of the special tags plummeted, along with renewals of existing tags as drivers balked at the additional cost and the changed distribution of the money. Income from the tags was about $1.8 million two years ago; this year, it’s on track to be less than $1 million, according to Mike Harris, chief of the nongame section.

Sales of new plates have declined by 90 percent since the change.

This year, however, the state legislature reversed itself, voting by a wide margin to change again the distribution of the money so that the nongame section will get more, and the state general fund less.

“A critical thing being affected was our federal drawdown,” said State Rep. Bubber Epps, R-Dry Branch, who sponsored the change in the House.

Federal and other kinds of grants often require state governments to put up some money of their own, so-called “matching funds.” For every dollar spent from the Georgia Nongame Wildlife Conservation Fund from 2008-2012, the state got nearly $2 in grant funds, according to DNR statistics.

As money has declined, the agency has cut back programs, but has not had to lay off people. Trouble is looming, though, Epps said.

“We make no appropriation to wildlife conservation,” he said.

Harris hopes the new formula, if the governor signs it, will boost state revenue as well as non-game revenue as more people buy the tags.

Under the new formula, when someone buys a new tag, non-game wildlife will get $20 of a $25 fee, the state general fund will receive $4, and the county where the tag is bought will receive $1. After the first year, the general fund will get $5 of a $25 renewal fee, and non-game wildlife receives $20.